Watchdogs criticize sentence for Scott J. Bloch

Watchdog groups are criticizing a probation sentence for the former head of a whistleblower protection office who withheld information from Congress about files he ordered be erased from office computers.

Scott J. Blochpleaded guilty in April to criminal contempt of Congress. He faces sentencing Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson in Washington after admitting to withholding information from House investigators about having private technicians "scrub" computer files at the Office of Special Counsel in December 2006. The files had been used by Bloch and other political appointees.

"Mr. Bloch, perhaps as well as anyone, should have known that the federal government cannot conduct proper investigations if witnesses intentionally and unlawfully withhold information pertinent to those investigations," Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Leon wrote the judge this month.